One the major problems with the over use of assignments in all subjects in the Qld system is that it allows rampant cheating to occur. This was a point made repeatedly in the 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry. Essentially it is impossible to tell who does assignments – is it the student, the parent, a tutor or is it one of the internet assignment writing companies? Some subjects have effectively 100% of the assessment by assignments. Most have much more than 50%, even Physics and Chemistry in many schools. A bit of cheating in an assignment worth 10% is not much of a problem if the other 90% is done under properly invigilated exam conditions. But in Qld a student can cheat the whole course and nobody can tell, or do anything about it.
The cheating is so widespread and open that companies have sprung up by the dozen to do student’s assignment. Google the words “assignment online” or “do my assignment Australia” and you will find dozens of companies who will do your child’s assignment. Have a look at this site
They will do your assignment and advertise the very best writers in Australia. 100% plagiarism software checked as well. That is ironic considering this whole scheme is about plagiarism – i.e the student is pretending the work is their own when it had been written by somebody else. But these companies know that the student must not get caught because it would be bad for business.
Go to the prices page on this site.You can get an instant quote depending on the level of study, length of assignment and time required. Don’t leave it too late or your assignment could cost a pretty penny, $90 for a 1000 word assignment with 24 to submission (actually its pretty good value all things considered). Some companies offer a premium rate so you are likely to get a better grade.
The irony here is that this is all totally out in the open. I presume somebody here is breaking the law. I suppose the company is not because they are upfront about what they are doing. So it is probably the student who is making a false claim about who did the work.
We have no idea about the depth of this problem but it is probable that far more assignment cheating is done by the parents of the students, or the student’s tutors, than by these companies. Nevertheless we now have a system which is entirely unreliable and plainly unfair.
That is why need exams, and better still an external exam which is properly invigilated and used to scale any internal assessment.
JUST FOR FUN I got onto one of these sites and had the following exchange on LiveChat
Ridd: Hi I was writing an assignment on how companies help students cheat by doing their assignments. Could you help me with that?
Amanda (Tutor) Yes, What do you need
Ridd: I am very sorry I was just pulling your leg. I am actually doing a web page platoqld.com which is alerting the public to problems of provenance of student assignments.
Amanda (Tutor) Alright
You can’t fault them for being helpful and polite? And it’s not their fault that we have invented a system which is designed to help assignment cheats.